A company that never ceases to innovate means a company that will thrive even in the most-competitive arena.
Intel Corporation knows this all too well.
In fact, it has announced [pdf] of an impending collaboration and innovation with the developing technology ecosystem in Shenzhen and broader China during its Intel Developer Forum in Shenzhen on April 3. China has been regarded as the number one market of PCs in the world.
"To continue to accelerate PC growth in China, [Kirk] Skaugen said the company will focus on three key areas: product innovation, segmentation and cost reduction, and delivering new experiences on Intel platforms," the company said in a statement.
Kirk Skaugen is a senior vice president at Intel.
Among Intel's announcements is the development of a new processor called Braswell. Skaugen said the 14-nanometer (nm) system-on-a-chip (SoC) Braswell would be the successor to a version of the Bay Trail processor that's now found in low-cost devices such as the affordable Android and Chrome OS devices. With SoCs, most core electronics of a device will be squeezed into one piece of silicon, thus making it smaller and cost-effective at the same time.
Braswell aims at offering better performance and power efficiency than the Bay Trail chips that are in used in value-segment PCs today. This new processor Braswell will be used instead to create entry-level, notebooks, desktops and convertibles. When asked of the arrival of the said chip, Skaugen was mum about it.
Meanwhile, Hermann Eul, Intel's general manager for mobile and communication business, said the company has been updating its Bay Trail chips that tablets have been using. This is through minimizing the components and processors' cost. It will also continue to add performance upgrades to Bay Trail, such as providing better graphics and additional security features.
Recall that Intel has also announced previously of its 14-nm chip called Cherry Trail, which will be used primarily for tablets.
Intel expects that having these developments will help boost the company's revenues in the mobile processor industry. It also plans to ship 40 million tablets with Intel chips, as it has been working on 80 new tablet designs. Intel-powered tablets may cost below $100, research says.
Intel will introduce to its market 20 new Chromebook designs this year.
"Last year, we had only four designs on Chrome. Today I can announce that we will have over 20 designs on Chrome," said Skaugen.
Other product developments mentioned also during the conference are the 64-bit Android KitKat 4.4, media box and SoFIA chip.
The Android KitKat 4.4 has a 64-bit kernel enhanced for Intel Architecture devices.
"With this release, the company ported, validated and tested the Android Open Source code on IA, taking on the work that developers typically would need to do on their own. This release will provide the ecosystem with 64-bit kernel support for development of next-generation devices," Intel said.
Meanwhile, the media box from QVOD Technology has its basis on the current Bay Trail processors of Intel. It will be made available later in 2014.
The company likewise explained that SoFIA is a dual-chip, fully integrated SoC product that intends to target value tablets and smartphones. It will start shipping in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Aside from the current collaboration, Skaugen also disclosed that the company has been working with Xiaomi for a possible WiDi-enabled set-top box.
During the conference, Intel executive Doug Fisher took the chance to emphasize the company's heightened focus on Android developers in its goal to enhance the quality of its products and services, boost the business and unravel more opportunities in the growing mobile industry.
